Category Archives: Books

This Book Binge came at just the right time for me. I needed something to take my mind off the assorted crap going on and this was the perfect remedy! Thanks for having another binge, Mary!

What did I read? As I was sitting down to write this post I realized I didn’t have my list with me. I look in my purse. Not there. I look in my bill drawer. Not there. I then look every where else in the house. Not there. Great. Can’t find the damn list! They were library books for the most part, I can check the library’s site. Nope, once they are returned there is no record. Here I thought the FBI or CIA was monitoring people’s library borrowings. (FBI, If you are reading this, did I remember all of my books?)

The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen I liked this book. Modern day woman finds skeleton in her yard. Story flashes back to the 1830’s and back again. Not as good as some of her other books but a nice read.

Hour Game by David Baldacci I have read and loved Baldacci’s Camel Club books but for some reason never read the Sean King/ Michelle Maxwell books. This book and the next on the list are both King/Maxwell books. They were…ok. I read them but they were also easy to put down. No “can’t wait to get back to it” feeling.

A Friar’s Blood Feud by Michael Jecks A Knights Templar Book I love these books. Sir Baldwin de Furnshill is a Keeper of the Peace in the 14th century. He is also a former Knight Templar. Great settings and a plot that kept me engaged.

Rockabye: From Wild To Child by Rebecca Woolf She blogs at Girls Gone Child. I loved this book and talked about it so much, my mother is reading it now.

7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber

The Front by Patricia Cornwell

For some reason my wordpress link thing isn’t working so I couldn’t link to the last few books. Sorry.

I have 8 or 10 more books to add but I am going to set this to automatically publish on Sunday. I am not sure if I will get back to it tomorrow as two of my kids (the smallest and whiniest) have strep throat. If this message is still here- I did not get back to it. If you like, check back on Tuesday for the full list, it should be up by then.

***Edited Monday June 2***

Since I lost my list I can’t remember the other books so they probably weren’t that good! Kids are a bit better, thanks for asking!

Mary P is hosting this Book Binge. Go over to her place to check out the other participants.

What did I read in April? Lots of good stuff.

In March I started The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. The obsession began. In April I read:

Dragonfly In Amber

Voyager

Drums of Autumn

The Fiery Cross

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

I loved these books. The story was fascinating. So often I read a book and really want more. These books had more. And more. And more.

Night by Elie Wiesel My daughter had to read this for school. Of course I had to check it out. It is a sharp punch in the gut. Elie Wiesel tells of his life in concentration camps as a teen in World War II. I can’t say the book was good. It was compelling and horrifying. Everyone should read this book.

Tripping the Prom Queen: The Truth About Women and Rivalry by Susan Shapiro Barash I read this for The Cerebral Venus Book Club. Today is discussion day and I have yet to go over and discuss.

Kingdom Come: The Final Victory by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins This is the final book in the Left Behind Series. I have to say I was disappointed. It seemed like the author was tired of writing this story and gave it a half hearted effort. It was not as engaging as the other books in the series. It took fifteen books to cover seven years (and the back story) but the final book covered the one thousand years of peace and the final battle. I feel gypped.

Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II by William Stevenson Again, thanks to my daughter! She chose this book for her biography paper. I got so into it I had to buy a copy for myself so she could use the library copy for her book report! Vera Atkins spied, recruited spies and fought for England during WWII.

I read nine books in April which is actually light for me. Well those Outlander mass market paperbacks were well over a thousand pages each so I guess that’s about right.

I wish I had time to do a better review of each book but right now that’s just not possible. Maybe when I update my Good Reads account (want to be on my friend list?) I can do a better job of it.

Clearly, we need a way to show our literary stuff in a truly personal way. So, here’s the idea: I’m proposing that, starting April 1, we start tracking everything we read for a month, and then, on May 1, we publish our lists. And yes, if you’re a student, assuming you’ll be doing any recreational blogging this month before exams, you can certainly include required readings and texts.

I love this, probably because I am totally nosy and want to know what other people are reading. Hey, my next literary obsession could be on one of those lists!

I did something this weekend that I have not done in a long time. I bought books. Yup, I shelled out real money for books. I am an avid reader and before I was married I had hundreds of books. Now we don’t have the room and I don’t have the time to dust the things. My library card gets used more than the Amex does- that should tell you something. I forgot how wonderful it is to just wander around Barnes and Noble. So peaceful. Yeah, I left the kids home.

What did I buy? The Outlander Series of course. It is funny how an obsession can take hold so quickly. Now they are mine! And can be yours too. No you can’t borrow them- get your own! I need them. Yes, I am a freak. Whatever.

Anyway…

I was thinking, would I go back in time and stay there if I had a mad, passionate love awaiting me? Granted Claire did not intend to go back to 1743 but she had the chance to return to 1945 and didn’t. (Keep in mind I am only on the second book and don’t know of her comings and goings, don’t blow it for me.)

Would I give up the luxuries and technology of 2007 to go back 200 years?

I love my husband but not like Claire and Jamie. I suspect that kind of love is for the fiction. If I’m wrong please tell me and don’t leave out any details. What would that kind of love be like? What would an all consuming hunger and passion feel like?

What would I give up for that? Have I given up anything for my husband? Not really, a little privacy, doing what I want, when I want. But he too has given up those things.

What would I miss most about the time I live in?

The internet?

Cars?

Modern medical care?

The freedom woman have today?

Tampons?

Would I do it? I don’t know. I’d like to think I would give up things for my husband. But I don’t know that I would. Would I give up blogging if he asked? I don’t know. (By the way, he doesn’t know I blog. He saw me reading someone else’s blog one night, told me he thought they were stupid and why would anyone want to do that? So I didn’t bother to tell him that I have one.) Do I love him enough to give something up? Or do I think, if he loves me, he would never ask me to give it up?

Would you go back in time? What would you miss about today? Would you give up something important for the person you love? What wouldn’t you give up?

Blame CPA Mom. She recommended the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and I can’t stop reading. How on earth did I not know these books existed? I am so hooked. I am going to the library tomorrow and getting all of them. I don’t want to have to wait if I finish one.

Thanks for your dinner tips. I’m so sick of my own cooking it’s not even funny.

A few months ago I took a hard look at what I was feeding my family. I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw. Mostly Hamburger Helper (cause it helps hamburger make a great meal). Not the healthiest or the tastiest but pretty damn easy. I decided no more Hamburger Helper. I plan meals for the week, make a shopping list, shop on Saturday and cook three or four meals on Sunday. On the days I work Sis just throws a pan in the oven so we can eat when I get home at six. With all the excitement last weekend, I didn’t make a meal list or cook anything ahead of time. I basically screwed myself up good.

Now I’m having food dilemmas.

The Big Guy. He is not a picky eater but he likes a meal. The girls and I are happy with salad and grilled chicken. He wants meat, starch, vegatable. I’ll throw scrambled egg sandwiches at him once in a while but he wants a real supper for the most part. He very rarely says he doesn’t like something. I can think of only twice in the time we have been together. And he doesn’t say, “Damn, woman that was awful!” He’ll say some thing like, “Do you think we could not have that again?”

Anything I make has to be nukeable. The Big Guy doesn’t eat until around midnight.

I need more recipes. I’ll have to take some time and search the net. After I finish these books.

The food I would make ahead is mostly casseroles. I don’t want hearty casseroles in the summer.

Now that I have bored you with more crap, I’m going back to 1743 Scotland. Thanks CPA Mom!

I love history and I love to read. I especially like to read fiction with a historical background. I also love a fiction series with recurring characters. I like to see what happens next, ya know what I mean?

I have been reading a fiction series that has all of these qualities. Author Michael Jecks has a wonderful series featuring a former Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his friend, Bailiff Simon Puttock. These novels are set in 1300’s England and feature Baldwin and Simon solving a crime (usually murder- maybe always murder, I haven’t read them all so I’m not sure). Mr. Jecks is a gifted writer. He really gives a sense of what life was like back then. He has a helpful glossary and cast of characters in the beginning of many of the books- great for keeping track of everyone and deciphering some medieval words! The mystery part of the books keeps you guessing. I hate a mystery that has a convenient ending- “so & so did it”- but the story just doesn’t support the conclusion. These books are not like that. Mr. Jecks is very skillful with his plotting.